Key Economic Indicators – October 22, 2012

  • Advance estimates of retail and food services sales for September were up 1.1% from August, and were up 5.4% from September 2011.
  • Total manufacturing and trade sales for August increased 0.5% from July, while inventories increased 0.6%.
  • Total Industrial production increased 0.4% in September, following a 1.4% decrease in the previous month.
  • Housing starts surged 15.0% in September, following a 4.1% decrease in the previous month.
  • September existing home sales decreased 1.7% to an annualized rate of 4,750 thousand units. The September figure was 11.0% above the September 2011 figure. The median sales price of existing houses sold was $183.9 thousand, 11.3% above September 2011.
  • The housing market index of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo rose to 41 in October, its highest level since June 2006.
  • The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 3.37% for the week ending October 18, down from last week when it averaged 3.39%.
  • Treasury International Capital reported net foreign purchases of long-term securities of $78.5 billion in August, compared with net purchases of $60.6 billion in the previous month.
  • The consumer price index (headline index) increased 0.6% in September, while the core index increased 0.1%. Both indexes increased 2.0% for the 12-month period ending in September.
  • The advance figure for initial claims for unemployment insurance increased by 46 thousand to 388 thousand in the week ending October 13.
  • The October Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated that manufacturing activity in New York State continued to decline for a third consecutive month.
  • The Philadelphia FED business outlook survey for October indicated a modest improvement in business activity.
  • The Conference Board index of leading economic indicators increased 0.6% in September, while the coincident index increased 0.2%.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.